Game #11: Rockies 5, Mets 4

Troy Tulowitzki (2) celebrates with teammate Seth Smith (7) after Tulowitzki hit a three-run home run during the fifth inning. (NYTimes.com)

Something tells me that day off we got yesterday didn't help so much.

Troy Tulowitzki's 3-run homer off Jon Niese in the 5th turned out to be the difference, propelling Colorado to a 5-4 victory over the Mets.

The Bad Stuff:
Take away that home run, and Niese pitched a decent game: 6 innings, 2 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. The problem is, he allowed 7 hits...and that 7th hit brought home 3 more runs. Thus making a good outing into a bad one. Sorry, bro. Of course, he allowed a solo shot the next inning to Ryan Spilborghs, which didn't help him out any either.
While the offense wasn't terrible, they failed to come through in the clutch when it mattered: they only managed one run with two on and no out in the 7th, then it was 1-2-3 in the 8th, 1-2-3 in the 9th. The result? Another 1-run loss.
More bad news: Chris Young, the Mets' "big" off season edition who actually looks like the best staffer we've got, may have tendinitis and will miss his next start on Friday. It's precautionary, yes, so we don't actually know if it's anything big, but let's just hope it doesn't turn into something. Starting in his place will be D.J. Carrasco...and what can possibly go wrong with one of the Hot Potato Boys pitching for three or four more innings than they're built to throw?

The Good Stuff:
I shouldn't rag so hard on the bullpen tonight; Buchholz, Beato, and Carrasco combined for three innings of 1-hit relief, so they did their job.
Carlos Beltran had a nice two-hit night, the first one a double that brought home Daniel Murphy as the first run of the game. His average is up to .265 now, about 17 points below his career average. Hopefully he's on still his way up.

Final Analysis:
Maybe it was the fog. Not much else I can say about the Mets' 4-game losing streak that I haven't said already. Hopefully the Amazin's can swell with Ernie Banks' famous energy and respond to "Let's play two!" with some wins on Thursday.

In other news, Blaine Boyer is no longer a Met. Will we miss him? Ask this guy:

See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya.

MM